Wondering what’s going to improve up time for fleets? According to Volvo Trucks, which outlined its vision for Remote Programming as the next major innovation to drive vehicle up time, that’s the ticket.

The venue was the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council’s 2018 Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition held March 4-7 in Atlanta.

First introduced in 2017 for model year 2018 Volvo trucks with Volvo’s factory-installed connectivity hardware, Remote Programming allows Volvo customers to perform over-the-air software and parameter updates anywhere in the U.S. and Canada where a cellular connection is available, and at the discretion of the vehicle’s decision maker.

“Uptime isn’t just a marketing word we toss around lightly. It’s about the people, processes and technology we implement to meet our customer commitments,” said Conal Deedy, Volvo Trucks North America connectivity director. “Remote Programming is already delivering strong uptime improvements. We see great potential for further improving truck availability and the ownership experience as we build on the platform and capabilities we’ve developed over more than two decades.”

Since its 2017 introduction, more than 1,300 vehicles have received software and parameter updates “over-the-air”. Remote programming of software and parameter updates takes about 20 minutes, a significant time savings when compared with the 2.3 day industry average when a truck arrives at a bay, is plugged in, and manually receives updates. In total, Remote Programming has added hundreds of days of uptime and increased performance of the 1,300 trucks.

“Working directly with Volvo fleets and owners of all sizes and applications to implement Remote Programming has proven to us that the service makes a difference to our customers and their operations,” said Deedy. “We’ve received strong acceptance of the technology and update process from both drivers and fleet managers, who have truly embraced remote updates as a faster, more efficient way to help ensure trucks are updated with the latest software to support peak performance.”

In addition to software updates, Remote Programming can deliver parameter changes to the road speed configuration and allow owners to change between operating modes for optimal fuel efficiency, maximum performance, or a balance of fuel efficiency and performance.